Auxiliary door for freight cars



E. POSSON AUXILIARY noon won FREIGHT was Filed May 9. 19 y 4 Sheets-Sheet (6 736% rd Mary Oct. I v a, POSSON AUXILIARY noon FOR FREIGHT ems Filed May 9 .1923 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 w\\ u I c i {ll} Iiilliil i 1mm I E. POSSON AUXILIARY noon FOR FREIGHT cans Filed Ilay 9.' 1923 in aara'for' J52! I'd J ogsazc lllllilllll' O o 6 H EMH v M 5 v Patented Oct. 18, 1927.

UNITED STATES" PATENT OFFICE.

EDWARD POSSON, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO GAMEL COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

AUXILIARY DOOR FOR FREIGHT CARS.

Application filed May 9,

- This invention relates to freight cars having abnormally large side openings to facilitate loading and unloading automobiles or other large bodies which cannot be intro duced and withdrawn through thest-andard door spaces; and particularly to a construction of main and auxiliary doors for closing such an-opening. I

It has heretofore been proposed to provide an auxiliary door to close the abnormal portion of the door openingand to adapt this auxiliary door'to be secured in position, with the side through which it meets the main door equipped to serve as a door post and carry the elements which cooperate with the locking and starting mechanismmounted on the main door; and'it'has even been proposed to mount a door post upon'the meeting edge of the auxiliary door, and to have it move withithe auxiliary cloorout of obstructing position when the enlarged doorway is? needed. v

One object Off the present invent on 15 to provide an improved means for securing in closing position the door post used at the meeting edges of the main and auxiliary doors of the kind described, and one feature of the invention consists in providing such a door post wi tli'top and bottom guides which rigidly fix it against movement transversely tothe plane of the door, and wit-ha strut or bar pivoted upon a fixed part of the car structure and adapted to swing trom an unobstructing position which it will assume when the-auxiliary door is open, to a bracing position with its swinging'end fitting snugly behind the movable doorpost when the auxiliary door is closed. 7

In the preferred embodiment, the movable door post is mounted upon the auxiliary door so that it can return wit-h the latter and avoid the necessity of separately handling it.

Another object of the invention is to provide means whereby an auxiliary door, equipped with a movable post and bracing means, will be arrested accurately in the proper position to receive the meeting edge of the main door, and, accordingly, another feature of the invention consists in providing a stop-in the path of the auxiliary door against which the door will be firmly thrust by the strut before mentioned; said, stop being preferably also constructed to enter into similar arresting relation to the main door and designed to 1nsure the proper relation tom guides;

1923. Serial No. 637,688.

between the meeting edges of the main and auxiliary doors when they are both against the stop; a suitable form of starting mecha nism usually employed for starting the main door from closed position, being arranged with parts mounted on one door and parts upon the other door, and being adapted to draw the two doors into closed relation-and a ainst the opposite sides of said stop, so that locking means, when employed or when embodied in the construction of the starter, will hold the doors in such position.

In the accompanying drawings V Figure 1 is a front elevation of'a portion ot a freight car having'main and auxiliary doors, in which the preferred construction of the several features of the present invention is embodied; Figure 2 is an enlarged view, similar to Figure 1, of those portions of the main and auxiliary-doors inwhich the invention particularly resides.

Figures Sand 4 are sectional views both taken on the line 3 .P of Figure 1, and

showing on an enlarged scale the upper and lower portions of the sections thus disclosed, and particularly the relation between the movable center-post and the top and bottom guides thereof.

Figure 5 is a perspective view on a smaller scale than Figure 5 of the angle bar with which the post is faced, and through which it enters into'bearing with its top and hot- Figures 6 and 7 collectively represent, on an enlarged scale, a section on the line 6 of Figurel, "and show particularly theydetai'ls of the meeting relation. between the two doors at the center post, the relation of the hinged strut to the center post, and-the readr weathering ends of the respective doors; an i Figure 8 is a detail view in front elevation of the upper portions of the meeting edges of the two doors.

- Arepresents a car body having aside opening, and B and C are, respectively, main and auxiliary doors for closing such opening, which are mounted to slide in a plane parallel with the face of the car, through means of roller housings D, D, E, E running on track F, continued beneath both doors. At the vertical meeting line of the doors when in closed position, and mounted in the path of the roller housings D, E, is a stop 1 serving in common for both doors; and mounted upon the auxiliary door C in a manner to move with it out of obstructing position of the doorway when the auxiliary door is open, is a center post 2, which, by the arrest of the auxiliary door against the stop 1, is brought in exactly the right position to serve as a fixed and normal post during uses of the car which require but a single main door B. Post 2, as shown in Figures 3 and 4:, is provided with a top recess 3 that receives a stationary guide 4:, and a bottom recess 5 through which it receives a stationary guide 6. Guides 4 and 6 extend in the direction of door movement and are therefore adapted to brace the post 2 against inward .or outward displacement with respect to the do-or-way, when said post is in position to embrace said guides.

In order to firmly stay the post 2 in closing-position, a strut 7 shown in dotted lines in Figure 1, is adapted to assume a horizontal position in which it abuts at one end against the permanent stud 8 of the car frame and at its other end against the center post 2; said strut being, however, adapted to be moved from the horizontal position of Figure l to the vertical position shown therein, and, tofacilitate such manipulation, is mounted upon a hinge 9 at its rear end and enters a stirrup 10 at its forward end behind the center post 2 when in horizontal position, and is adapted to be engaged by a retaining hook 11 when in its vertical position, and in which latter position it will lie behind the post 2 when the auxiliary door is open, A plan view of the strut 7 when in the horizontal position of Figure 1 and the mountings therefor are shown in Figure 6. lVhen in this position the strut provides a substantial intermediate cross rail which protects the auxiliary door against shifting load within the car. The center post 2 is carried by the auxiliary door 0, being secured thereto by means of the bolts 12 (Figures 3 and 4), and in order to maintain the recesses 3 and 5 and provide a wearing face on the said post, it is provided with an angle bar 13 (Figure 5 lat represents the hook, 15 the controlling lever, 16 an engaging pin, and 17 the lock keeper of a combined starting and locking device, of which the pin 16 and keeper 17 are mounted on the auxiliary door C, while the lever 15 and the hook which it carries are mounted on the main door B. These parts are not described in detail because they are not claimed herein, and are to be taken as merely typical of any device of like function adapted to be employed in the same situation.

I claim:

1. In a railway car, in combination, a door, a fixed post past which the door slides in opening and closing, a movable post mounted upon and traveling with said door, guide means cooperating directly with said movable post to hold said post at its top and bottom against movement transversely of said car, a swinging strut having one end secured against displacement at an intermediate point on the fixed post and adapted to be swung into horizontalposition across said door into abutting relationship with said movable post, and means upon said movable post for holding the swinging end of said strut against movement transversely of said car, whereby said strut may serve as a horizontal rail between said posts to brace said car against shifting lading Within said car.

2. In a railway car, in combination, a door, a fixed post past which said door slides in opening and closing, a movable post, a swinging strut having one end secured against displacement at an intermediate point on one of said posts and adapted to bepositioned horizontally across the door in abutting relationship with the other of said posts, means carried by said last mentioned post for receiving the end of said strut and hold ing said strut against movement transversely of said car, and guide means cooperating directly with said movable post for holding said post against movement transversely of said car. 1

Signed at Chicago, Illinois, this th day of April, 1923.

"EDWARD PossoN, 

